The words you choose for your company's ethics and value statement are important in how your employees react and conform their behavior to that statement.
Recently business ethics expert Christopher Bauer spoke about how slogans can be confused with values and find their way into a company's value statement, thus reducing the statement's effectiveness.
Well, he said the same is true with using buzzwords and that crafter's of value statements need to wary about their use.
"Think about the values your business or association claims to hold. You are likely to find such 'buzzy' words or phrases as innovation, integrity, service, leading edge, etc. Of course these can be great words to describe the goals and ambitions of your business. But do they belong in either a values statement or ethics code? Probably not, unless you can actually tie them to specific types of behavior that are both encouraged and expected of everyone in the organization.
"For example, being innovative is not either intrinsically good or bad. Most behaviors in which we engage each day are not really very innovative and that lack of innovation is probably not contrary to your expectations for appropriate behavior. On the other hand, someone's behavior can be extremely innovative and be wildly at odds with the mandates of ethical behavior, the law or simply afield of your business' mission.
"Do you want to encourage innovative and leading edge ideas? Great! Your organization will never have too many of them - so support and encourage them in every way you possibly can. Just be careful to avoid those kinds of words and phrases in your values statement or ethics code because they probably won't help your employees know what the right thing is to do if faced with a question about what their in-the-moment priorities are supposed to be. Providing absolute clarity about those priorities is just one of several essential hallmarks of a values statement that will support ethics while simultaneously maximizing your bottom line," Mr. Bauer said.
In addition to his programs on professional ethics, Christopher Bauer helps companies build their bottom line through the development of values-driven management, leadership, customer service, and branding initiatives. Information on Bauer Ethics Seminars is available at
